• Birth: an Iriquois container to hold the umbilical cord of a baby boy, an Amazonian gods eye to shield the newborn (or a sick person) from harm, christening statues from Switzerland.
• Childhood: toys for play, tools for work and school (see our lesson on Childhood Across Cultures).
• Coming of age: a Navajo "kinaalda" doll for a young girl's coming of age, a graduation diploma and gown. It is fascinating to ask our young people what marks their coming of age: a driver's license is the major marker! A young Russian might have been expected to kill a bear in the old days to prove he was a man, or a Masai a lion. This is a rich discussion.
• Courtship: Greek "rokas" or distaffs carved by a shepherd for his sweetheart, fabric balls tossed back and forth at the Hmong New Year in an approved flirtation ritual, the courtship candle from our colonial days. Papa could control the length of the young man's visit with this candle!
• Marriage: dolls and clothing, special fabric hangings, jewelry - all celebrate this special time in all cultures.
• Adulthood: implements of work, and also objects from ritual life as we grow older and enter into the spiritual life of our community.
• Death: artifacts from the Mexican Day of the Dead, from Vietnam and the Philippine highlands illustrate very different ways of understanding and even celebrating death. A beautiful connection to our Halloween and its roots in All Souls Day and All Saints Day, also to our Memorial Day.

What are the key life passages that all humans go through?
How do we observe them here in the US, and how are they observed in other cultures?
What are the common human concerns that are expressed in every culture?
What stories do a culture's artifacts tell about the people who create that culture?
How do people the world over meet similar needs with vastly different materials and standards of living?

Generalizing about human experience
Analyzing our own culture and experience (for instance, to identify American coming of age rituals)
Drawing parallels, seeing differences
Close observation of an object, including drawing it
Use of observation and imagination to figure out the use of an object and to understand why it is appropriate to its place of origin

Students will learn about

• Customs recognizing life passages, from birth to death, all around the world
• The use of indigenous materials in artifacts
• Geography and environment and their connection to material culture
• The roots of American customs in older traditions
• The richness and diversity of American culture, from native to immigrant